Fishing grounds
by Lord Keiichi of Umineko
Summary: Every victim of Jusenkyo gets a certain curse that somehow suits him or her in a way. The answer is: Fishing. But there's a huge difference between catching a human and catching a wild horse as someone will find out.


Fishing grounds

Chapter 1

* * *

When Ranma, Genma and the Jusenkyo guide arrived at Jusenkyo, it was night. Clouds covered the sky so that neither the moon nor the stars could be seen. Even with their enhanced eye sight, they could barely make out where they were going and had to follow the exact path of the guide who only knew where he was going because of the familiarity with the terrain.

Genma made a wise choice (yeah, it's possible) that sparring during this pitch black night on a cursed training ground was a bad idea.

GROWL!

Of course his rumbling stomach, Ranma's too, and a promise from the Jusenkyo guide that he would make dinner once they arrived at his house didn't have anything to do with it, nope.

"Hey, old man, do you feel something tugging at you?"

"No, don't tell me you're scared of the dark like a little girl."

"Why you! I ain't scared of anything!" Ranma threw a punch at Genma who anticipated this and was prepared to use the force of the punch to throw Ranma over his shoulder.

"You have much to learn, boy! Maybe this will teach you some discipline!"

"STOP! If any of you two continue or repeat this, no one will get dinner. This is cursed grounds. If you fall into spring, you turn into last thing that drowned. No cure. Hot water only reverse until you get hit by cold water."

Reluctantly, Genma set Ranma down who was about to knee him in the face. "You're lucky, boy. If he hadn't warned me about the curses, you would have gotten one. Oh, where have I gone wrong!"

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Ranma had trouble refraining from attacking again. "Feh, as if you thought about the curses. Only because your fat stomach was in danger, you stopped."

"You will treat me with the respect I deserve, boy!"

"Doing already, haven't noticed old man?"

"No more words or no dinner!"

These words shut both of them up, though both were in a bad mood.

In particular, Ranma was discontent. First, his punch was far too imprecise. His old man could counter far too easily. However, there was something else occupying his mind. Twice he counted, there was something pulling on him. Looking around, he could never see anyone. Nothing was attached on him either.

_"__Why didn't my old man notice anything though? Right like he would feel much through his fat. Probably clogging up his brain, too.__"_ Ranma laughed at that.

_"__Again! From behind!__"_ Ranma spun around, but again no attacker. Pulling followed. He didn't know where exactly he was pulled from but he was sure it would end with falling into a spring. _"__Fat chance of me doing that!__"_

When Ranma was suddenly pulled harder, he lost his balance. Instead of trying to keep standing, he turned to the side and dug his feet parallel into the ground. _"__Seriously, what the hell's going on here!__"_

Ranma tried to find Genma and the guide but he could neither see or hear them. _"__Great! They ditched me! Okay, I gotta avoid the springs. Once I can __see __more than just as far as my hand, I'm leaving this weird place.__"_

For next who knows how many minutes, the only thing that Ranma did was trying to hold his position. _"__Man, this is so boring__"_ "Aargh, there's gotta be more I can do than this."

He went over the techniques he knew. Then, he remembered a particular scroll that didn't use Ki but something called Nen (taken from Hunter x Hunter) which his father thought was useless because it wasn't a life energy he had ever heard of. However, Gyo could be really useful at the moment since you could see Nen with it. "Worth a shot. Can't see nothing anyway."

You need to apply both Ten and Ren to your eyes. There are generally four steps to mastering Nen: Ten, Zetsu, Ren and Hatsu. His Ten was shaky. It was required to form your aura into a harmonic layer over his body, too bad his life wasn't so peaceful. The next step was Zetsu. You pulled your entire aura into body so that you didn't emit any Nen anymore which was a piece of cake for Ranma. Then followed Ren. You amplify your aura. Ranma hadn't practiced that one much yet. Last was Hatsu, releasing the amplified aura you gathered.

Ranma closed his eyes, calmed down and tried to use Gyo. Even through his eye lids, he could see light. "Jusenkyo must have lots of Nen. I know my Gyo's far from perfect."

The sight that greeted Ranma when he opened his now glowing eyes was one that he would never forget. "What the- What is this?"

The springs gave off a soft white light which wasn't that surprising. One of each spring came a thin line. Ranma looked up at the end. "Are those fish hooks?"

Not only that but they were hanging upside down and various items were attached on them: cheese, some drawing, jewelry, a sword, a bomb, some old diving suit, a bag of rice, dresses, books, a sex doll, a Gameboy, a drum set, a piano, a piano, a car, heck directly over him was an entire house. All upside down too, hovering in the air.

Ranma scrambled a bit back. That's when he noticed that three hooks were attached to him. At first, his hands went through them but after he used Ten, he could grab the hooks and the fishing lines. The items he got weren't that bad. A DVD collection of Dragon Ball Z, a joke book and a scroll on Ki manipulation. He kept the last one.

"Jusenkyo sure knows what to use for bait." Ranma muttered. He pulled off the hooks and followed the fishing line of the last one. Since the springs glowed to him, he had no trouble avoiding them.

He look directly into the water and sweatdropped. "Really Jusenkyo victims get fished?" He could make out a fishing rod through the glow. "I think I hear a happy whistling tune, too."

"Hey, you, up here!" Ranma shouted. The other person looked up on the other side. "Other way, idiot!"

"Who are you calling an idiot!" The face of a young, blue-haired Chinese woman who was bending down to the surface could be seen in the spring. "Wait. You are talking to me."

"Duh, who else?"

"Don't speak in that tone to me, young man!"

"Young man? Really? Ya sound like hag."

The woman glared at Ranma. "Any uncivilized man would sound like a genius compared to a mentally limited buffoon such as you."

"Take that back! I know you called me stupid somehow!" Ranma pointed at her.

She merely hmphed and stood up. Then, she made a sound he had heard before but he couldn't place where exactly. However, when a hook rammed into Ranma's back and he nearly fell into the spring, he knew what she was doing. "You bitch!"

"You should know that I see fishing only as sport, a test of skill. For this purpose, I have developed many different techniques and refined them to become the best. Because of my diverse equipment and unassuming, highly successful approaches towards the victims, I have managed to gain the highest quota of catching victims, always top quality of course. While there is a certain satisfaction to a success, I always stay professional. For you though, I shall make an exception. For the first time in my 1500 years in this spring, I will take pleasure in cursing someone, fool."

Meanwhile, Ranma dug his heels into the ground and was pulling on the fishing line. "Done rambling, you freaking old, bitchy hag?!"

A growl was the response. "When I'm done, you shall be a small, cute, well-proportioned young woman that shall turn the heads of every male. Of course, you shall feel the special requirements and desires of a young woman blossoming within yourself, too. Quite insistently I might add."

"No idea what you mean by requirements and desires but I sure as hell ain't letting you turn me into some weak girl." Ranma managed to get a bit farther back.

"You truly are the worst. I, Kwondi Xiana of the Amazon tribe, shall show you the superior strength of women!"

"Conditioner?" The answer was a massive yank on the fishing pole. "Hey, your name Is pretty stupid!"

"Now, I see what your game is. - You are insulting me on purpose." Kwondi stated. "If I were a lesser opponent, your strategy might have worked. Unfortunately for you, young man, I'm better than that."

Suddenly, Ranma felt the fishing line getting looser and electricity running through it, so that he let go of it. Before he could regain his balance, the hook was around his knee and was pulled back. Instead of trying to stop the motion, he made a backflip. The hook flew harmlessly to the spring but even before he landed it came back at high speed. Ranma barely dodged by twisting his right shoulder. His hope that he would gain some time was short-lived as he felt the fishing line wrap around his upper body.

"Your pathetic attempts are futile. The string itself is made of a synthetic fiber that is far more durable than steel. Combined with my ki enhancing the durability of the string, it is practically unbreakable."

She pulled the line slowly back, Ranma having to make steps towards the spring or he would fall forward. When Ranma was two steps away from the spring, she stopped while Ranma made a small step forward.

"Out of the goodness of my heart, I shall allow you a few last words as a full male. You should see the curse as an honor, a promotion to the better gender. If you bowed and apologized to me, I could exclude some ideas so that it would be a bit more comfortable."

"Bowing to you? Pff, dream on. And apologizing? As if."

"Then prepare yourself -"

"Already did." Ranma spun to the left and kicked the fishing line as high and fast as he could without leaving the ground.

Caught off-guard in the feeling of certain victory, Kwondi wasn't prepared for another attack. Since she gripped the handle of her fishing rod tightly, she was pulled forward into the spring.

SPLASH!

Ranma couldn't believe what he was seeing. In the spring, he could see the Amazon losing her curves and growing. In a few places, her clothes began to tear. However, suddenly her transformation reverted.

SPLASH!

Their eyes met as Kwondi broke the surface on Ranma's side and flew towards him. Shocked, none of them could prevent the crash. For seemingly an eternity, they laid on the ground trying to grasp what happened.

The first one who noticed their position was Ranma. "Gah!" He pushed Kwondi away and jumped back. That also snapped her out of her shock.

"What happened?! How did ya get outta the spring?!"

"I don't know. You must have pulled my spirit out of the spring and I have gained my old body again." Then she remembered what occurred in the spring and pointed a finger at him. "And you have cursed me, too."

"Meh, sore loser. It's your own fault for picking a fight with the best."

"My loss is not the result of your own strength but my own carelessness. A fool like you is normally below my standards."

Ranma bristled at that. "Pretty full of yourself, ain't you? You should fill your attitude in bottles and sell it. You'd never run out, princess."

From the intensity of her glare, Ranma should have melted. Soon, she bowed her head and sighed. "It's no use delaying things further." She muttered the first part under her breath and continued louder. "I demand to know your name."

Somewhat confused by her defeated expression, he replied. "I'm Ranma Saotome, heir of Anything-Goes school of martial arts."

Kwondi stood up, completely soaked Ranma noted. While she was walking towards him, she stared into his eyes, an unreadable expression on her face. When she stood directly in front of him, she tilted her head and kissed him on his right cheek.

"Ranma Saotome, since you defeated me in a duel and you are a member of the opposite gender, I must gave you the kiss of marriage. According to the tribal laws of the Amazons of Joketsuzoku, we are officially married now." Kwondi explained in a monotone voice. After her explanation, she turned around stiffly, grabbed her fishing pole on the ground, sat down at the spring she came from and began to fish. A thin but bright layer of Ki formed around her.

Only after she did that, the meaning of her words really sunk in. "What do mean by married? You're pissing me off and ya don't like me either!"

"Dislike does not even compare to the contempt I feel for you."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"My honor as a warrior maiden of Joketsuzoku demands that I give you the kiss of marriage. I don't expect you to obey the laws -"

_"__Wow, I thought this stuck-up woman would just push these laws through.__"_

"- because I doubt highly that following rules is your strong suit."

Eye twitch. _"__Why you! __I can follow rules, too!__"_

"However, this is a matter of honor. So for my own honor, I need to try at least. It may be a lose-lose-situation for me but I could never forgive myself if I forfeited a challenge and thus my honor."

"I understand." Ranma replied softly.

Kwondi turned around and looked into his eyes that showed true understanding. "Thank you, Ranma."

"No problem, Conditioner."

Kwondi winced at the horrible pronunciation. "Please don't say my name again. Could you say Cory Siana?"

"Cory Siana. Sounds western. Well, I'm gonna go sleeping where away from the pools."

"That's a good idea, Ranma. We can leave in a few minutes when my clothes are dried off."

"Okay." In the meantime, Ranma continued to watch her with Gyo. Her aura was perfectly tranquil and balanced out along her body. _"__What a mastery of ki. __I wonder what she can do.__"_ He barely noticed the minimal shifting of clothes during her breathing.

When they finally left the pools, they laid down on a softer spot on the ground. A meters were between them. Each of them had their own thoughts about the other, mainly about their fighting strength.

Ranma moved with a grace Cory didn't expect him to. It indicated that he was a very good martial that apparently could use ki, an ability she had not seen for a long time and she had to think far back to remember someone so young. _"__Ranma may be uncultivated. However, his talent in martial arts is undeniable. I wonder how he will fare against a real spar against me.__"_

While Ranma was impressed with her ki mastery, her walk disappointed him honestly. Either she did that on purpose or she has gotten rusty over the years. _"__I'm guessing the latter.__"_ He had no doubt that he would trash her in hand-to-hand combat but with the Ki techniques she bragged so much about it should be an interesting match.


End file.
